Decision Support in Jobs Allocation for a Transportation Company

Wang Wen

Abstract

This paper reviews the process and order activation activities in a supply chain company. The aim of this project is to develop analytical model and process for effective decision making in vehicle routing and order allocation. First a brief introduction on transportation activities and order assignment strategy will be given. Based on the feature of the process and activities, we concluded it as vehicle routing problem (VRP). Therefore, we will review three VRP algorithms – nearest neighbor problem algorithm (NNP), Dijkstra’s algorithm and travelling salesman problem algorithm (TSP). Next we will use the most relevant and efficient TSP algorithm and evolutionary solver engine to analyze if it works well with the data collected from the transport team in the supply chain company. With some uncertainty given, we will introduce a heuristic model for the company to conduct dynamic route planning. Lastly, we will summarize the current route planning strategy of the transport team in the supply chain company and provide recommendation for its improvement. Methodologies from operations research and optimization are adapted. The decision support models developed is tested with scenarios and data from the local supply chain company for their effectiveness.